The decision deals a severe blow to movie, music and television producers, who had hoped to withstand a surprisingly strong Silicon Valley surge against the bill. It also casts serious doubt over whether the bill authored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will be able to net the 60 votes needed to reach cloture.

The anti-piracy bill suffered a beating this week. Around half a dozen co-sponsors on Wednesday announced they do not support the bill as written, including key Republicans like Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. The defections came amid widespread protests raging online that included sites like Wikipedia and Reddit going dark to voice their opposition to the bill.